


Random Acts of Kindness

by chasethewind



Series: Chase's 12 Days of Christmas 2016 [2]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Acts of Kindness, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Holidays, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Snow and Ice, Tumblr Prompt, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 18:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8856571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasethewind/pseuds/chasethewind
Summary: Prompt: nalla-madness : Hi :) I would like to read something about this one: "you’re my new neighbor and we’ve never spoken but you saw me shoveling snow all day and i guess it must be pretty obvious how cold i am because you brought me a jacket and hot cocoa au" - Thank you ;)





	

Felicity huffed another cold breath as she dug the snow shovel into the fluffy pile of white, throwing the contents to her right off the sidewalk and onto the patch of grass beside it. For the past three hours she'd been shoveling her elderly neighbors out of their homes before finally reaching her own walkway. Usually her hot neighbor would do it, but after the fall she'd watched him take the night before, she felt it was her duty as the only other young person on the block to help. Although sweat pooled down her back from the exertion, she could feel the chill deep down in her bones after having taken off her jacket in favor of a light hoodie to make the job easier.

A good ten feet separated her from her goal, but the fact that the snow was almost a foot deep made Felicity want to give up. "But then you won't be able to get out of the house tomorrow for work, and then how will you be able to pay the mortgage?" she rattled to herself. Digging the shovel into the snow, she started all over again.

From his living room window, Oliver watched the new girl who had moved in next door heaping piles of white higher and higher onto her lawn. While the task itself wasn't that impressive, what impressed him was the fact that she had done six other sidewalks before reaching her own that day. Had he not been hobbled up from slipping and falling on his own porch the night before, he would have been out there helping her. Just thinking about the not-so-graceful way he'd hit the ground after stepping on a patch of black ice made him cringe and his knee throb.

Oliver wanted to help. He always shoveled for the elderly, free of charge, and when he realized he wouldn't be able to that day because of his sprained knee, his heart sank. But when he'd woken up to find the pretty blonde in her snow boots, black tights, bright pink sweatshirt, and black beanie, he felt slightly relieved. His concern turned toward her well being. So he watched her through the window for the next several hours. It was far more fascinating than whatever game happened to be on TV.

She seemed happy, bounding around, dancing to the music coming from the headphones in her ears. About three quarters of the way through, she took the white earbuds out and continued working without the music. Her long coat had been cast aside as well, leaving her in what she wore now. Oliver watched as she paused for a moment to shake out her body then brought her hands to her mouth and blew into them. The telltale shiver that ran down her spine made him get up instantly.

When did it get so cold? Felicity thought as she reached for the shovel and started scooping up snow again. The temperature felt like it had dropped another ten degrees once she reached halfway up her sidewalk. She glanced up to find the sun low on the western horizon. Oh… There were still five more feet of walkway to shovel, a daunting task when darkness approached. Felicity trudged on, putting a little more effort into finishing the job before it dusk.

In her manic rush to complete the sidewalk, she failed to notice the man hobbling up the path until a particularly hard toss sent snow flying in his direction, hitting him square in the chest. His muttered curses made Felicity jump. The shovel dropped from her hands as she let out a shriek, stepping backwards only to slip and fall on a patch of ice she'd been trying to avoid. Her ass landed hard on the ground.

"FRACK! OW!" Felicity shouted, rolling onto her side in order to rub her tailbone. Damn, it hurt!

"Are you alright?" Oliver asked as he rushed to help her. In his haste, he, too, missed a patch of ice and ended up sliding. He hit the ground in the pile of snow beside her, face first. The thermos full of hot chocolate he'd been holding landed a foot away, top up, without spilling a drop.

"Whoa! Are you a ninja?" Felicity asked, her eyes widening at what she just witnessed.

"I'm okay," Oliver muttered, rolling onto his back.

"Oh, my god! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" she replied. Felicity crawled toward him. Her breath caught when she realized it was her gorgeous next door neighbor, the one with the sandy blonde hair and smoldering blue eyes she swore she felt following her all afternoon.

"I'm fine, just a little sore, that's all," Oliver said. He stayed on the ground, staring up at the ever-darkening sky as he tried to catch his breath.

"What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be at home, resting?" Felicity asked. His gaze shifted to her, the confusion present in his eyes. "I saw you fall on the porch while I was lighting my Menorah last night," she added. "You shouldn't be out here doing anything today with the way you hit your knee."

"Yeah, well, I noticed you were getting cold, so I thought I'd bring you some hot cocoa and a jacket," he replied, dusting himself off as he sat up. Oliver motioned to the thermos and the puffy black parka on the ground next to him.

"That… That... " Felicity stuttered. "Oh wow… No one's ever done that for me before… I apologize for scolding you. I'm so sorry. That was totally out of line. I swear, sometimes my mouth gets ahead of me and I just can't stop until I make a complete fool out of myself, which happens to be what I'm doing right now because, oh, my god, I can't seem to stop! Please stop me!"

A breathy chuckle escaped his lips. "Hi, I'm Oliver Queen," he said, extending his hand.

"Felicity," she replied, shaking his hand. "Smoak."

"Here." Oliver picked up the coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. Its warmth immediately spread through her cold, tired body, making Felicity feel much better after the long day she'd had.

"Thank you," she said, her face turning pink for reasons not related to the weather. "That was… so incredibly nice of you."

"After all you've done today, it was the least I could do."

"Well, I see you out here shoveling after every snowstorm, so I figured today I'd give you a break."

"And for that I am grateful," Oliver said, giving her a megawatt smile that could easily outshine the sun and make her insides melt in nanoseconds.

"You're… uh… welcome," Felicity stuttered, unable to sit there and stare at him. She could easily go into graphic detail on what she would love to see those lips do. The thought was still on her mind when she opened her mouth and a new torrent of word vomit escaped. "If you'll excuse me, I really have to get back to this blow job. I mean, snow job!"

The palm of Felicity's hand hit her forehead. "Damn it," she muttered, squeezing her eyes shut as her face burned red. Of course her mouth would choose to betray her like that at this moment.

Oliver caught her Freudian slip and while he had no intention of saying anything, a breathy chuckle escaped his lips unprovoked. He couldn't help it. Never in his life had he met anyone like Felicity Smoak. Not only was she adorable, she had a penchant for making him laugh by just opening her mouth. No one, not even his ex, had been able to do that.

"I'm just gonna get back to work now before I say anything else that I'll regret for the rest of my life," Felicity grumbled as she stood up and brushed away the snow that continued clinging to her leggings. Face still bright red, she picked up the shovel and started picking up large swaths of snow.

"How about after you're done, you come over to my place and we have dinner?" Oliver suggested before she walked away.

Felicity stopped in her tracks. With her back still turned toward him, he couldn't see the many faces she made as she pondered his invitation. From terrified to confused to shock and awe, Felicity turned around, a bright smile on her face. "You mean like a… like a dinner date?" she sputtered, still slightly confused that he would offer up dinner even after what she'd said.

Again, he chuckled. God, she was so cute. "Yeah, sure," Oliver said. Felicity's face lit up with a smile, her eyes sparkling in the last few rays of sunshine that escaped through the gathering clouds.

"I would love that," she replied.

"Okay, great." A long, awkward silence passed between them before Oliver added, "I'll… uh… go start cooking then."

"And I'll keep shoveling," Felicity answered, her voice slightly more chipper than she expected it to come out.

"Alright, I'll see you soon." Oliver turned and hobbled away, leaving her to stand there and stare as her hot neighbor, the one she never expected would ever even talk to her, stepped back into his house.

A dinner date… Her mind couldn't get over the events of those past few minutes. Never had felicity expected something like that to happen, especially after one of her infamous bouts of word vomit. But it felt amazing. A guy she felt was way out of her league had just invited her to dinner. She couldn't help but wonder if this was a little show of appreciation from the universe for her random act of kindness that afternoon.

Felicity shrugged and got back to shoveling. She had a date tonight, after all, and the snow wasn't going to clear itself.


End file.
